


the mess that we've become

by wingdingtypes



Category: Beetlejuice (1988), Beetlejuice (TV 1989), Beetlejuice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BEETLEBABE FANS DNI, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Post-Canon, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, beetlejuice is lydia's wacky uncle leave them alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-05 13:01:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingdingtypes/pseuds/wingdingtypes
Summary: Set a while after the events of the main story, the Maitlands discover that Lydia isn't doing as well as they thought





	1. you left your whole life behind

Lydia always wore what she wanted, but even now it was evident that she was dressing out of season. Black was normal, but the long sleeves and extra layers weren't a good sign for anybody who cared to notice.  
When her dad off-handedly asked her to wash the dishes, she was strangely nervous. Filling the sink with hot soapy water, methodically rearranging the plates and bowls and cutlery. Not being able to delay it any longer, she double-checked he was out of the room before rolling up her sleeves and plunging her hands into the soapy water. She winced but started working on the pile of dirty dishes.

She didn't see the two faces dipping from the ceiling. The Maitlands phased back into the attic, looking at each other, unspoken concern festering between them.

"I thought things were _better!"_ Adam was pacing up and down the room, while his wife watched him go back and forth like a tennis match.  
"She would have told us if something was wrong, wouldn't she? Could it be school? Is she taking too many classes? Or it is her friends? or-" He stopped pacing.

"Did _we_ do something wrong?"

The thought of messing up their second chance at a family was unthinkable.

"**No**" Barbra cut through the unsettling quiet and stood up, taking his hands in hers  
"Lydia is a strong girl, she would have stood up to us if it was something we said or did. And besides, you couldn't hurt a fly's feelings even if you tried"  
He smiled weakly at that, knowing she was right.

"If it's not us or the Deetzs, then how do we help her, Barb?"  
They had never had children of their own when they were alive, had grown up mentally healthy and loved, and had no previous experience with this sort of situation that was unravelling before their very eyes. So they went to the one person they knew who did.

Beetlejuice was accustomed to annoying house calls, but this was different. He ducked down, his neck stretching comedically if anyone had been around to see it. To his surprise, he saw the scars on Lydia's arms. He pulled back from his position of kneeling on the dusty attic floor.

"Wow. You guys weren't kidding"

"Of course not! Did you think we would LIE about something like this?"

  
"No. Nonono of course not"

There was a moment of silence. Nobody could bring themselves to argue or make witty quips. The air felt heavy with seriousness.

  
"Well, what do you boneheads want me to do?" he asked, crossing his arms. The couple exchanged glances

"We love her, Beetlejuice. We know you do too"

The demon avoided eye contact, but he knew they were right. Lydia had been a breath of fresh air into the dusty tombs of his afterlife. For all of them.

"Just, talk to her," Barbra said gently._ "Please"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hope you liked this first bit, second part coming soon! I'm going through it rn and thought it was a shame that both the musical and the movie never really unpack Lydia's suicidal/depressing feeling, so I gave it my best shot!


	2. happiness is up to you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia and Beetlejuice open up to each other. if u cant get a store bought therapist, ur local daemon will do!

_Be careful with her they said, be kind, be gentle_

"What the **fuck** is up flesh bag!!"

  
Lydia looked up from examining the tiles on the roof to the ghost that had appeared. She cracked the smallest of smiles but went back to looking at the tiles  
Ah shit. He recognised that smile all too well. Was he too late?

She pulled her knees up to her chest. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but sure. I'm an open book kiddo"

  
"How did you die?"

  
He felt a tingle of electricity go through his form, his hair turning a darker shade of green. Despite his vocal cords being dust, he felt his mouth dry up.

  
"In the manual, it says that if you... commit suicide you become an eternal public servant in the afterlife." She continued  
"You were Juno's assistant, once." It was a statement, not a question.

  
He wondered for a moment how she figured it out when none of the others had. But she was smart, and it wasn't hard to put the pieces together.  
"Jeez ya' really putting me on the spot" he scratched the back of his head nervously, absently-mindedly hovering a bit.

  
"You _really_ want to know?"  
She nodded  
He sighed, adjusting his jacket cuffs- collecting his thoughts.

  
"There was this girl-hah, ain't that always the way a sappy story starts? All over some chick!" he laughed, but there was no humour in it.  
"But she... was more than just some broad. To me anyways. Turns out she didn't feel the same way, and..." there was a sense of genuine pain in his voice that was so unusual that it made Lydia look up.

  
"And that broke my heart. I couldn't see a life without her by my side. Which sounds pathetic, but that's how I really felt, ya' know? All seems so stupid now"  
He shook his head

"Not to mention the fact that I wasn't the happiest with myself at the time. My parents were both mega jerks and I was repressing a Bunch of stuff." he pulled a bug from his sleeve and tossed it nonchalantly off the roof. They both watched it fall.

A quiet moment passed, they watched clouds glide in across sun, creating long shadows that flowed over the surrounding grassy hills and small-town far, far below. The lace on Lydia's dress billowed in the wind as she shifted to a more comfortable position.

"I killed myself. Drowning" Beetlejuice broke the silence.

"I mean how do you think I got so gross and mouldy girl? Water plays havoc with your hair and complexion after a millennium"

  
Lydia raised an eyebrow at that.  
"Doesn't sound like you"

  
"Ah, yeah, welllll. The wiki article says hanging, but this author has other ideas and headcanons. It makes sense when you think about it"  
She nodded understandingly. He did this stuff sometimes.

  
"Talk about going out with a splash, eh?"  
With a pang of guilt, he realized he wasn't helping at all.

"Why did you want to know?"

She took a breath.

  
"I want to die, you know that from the moment you met me"

  
He floated down next to her cross-legged, listening intently. They both remembered that eventful day on the roof.

  
"Sure, but that was ages ago with those assholes breathing down your back. Things are better now."

  
A pause

  
"Aren't they? Lyds?"

  
She wrapped her arms around her legs, drawing them closer to her chest as if trying to become smaller.

  
"I don't know"  
Then she began shaking, BJ realized she was crying

  
"I mean e-everything is fine, but I just, just feel like shit ALL the time! The way I treated Dad and Delia was terrible Beetlejuice! I didn't mean to be so cruel- they don't deserve that. Don't deserve _me_" Her eyes were red-rimmed and wide, looking out but not really seeing.

"So- s-so I.."

She pulled up her sleeve. If it hadn't stopped years ago, his heart would have skipped a beat.

Her arm was littered with scars. Starting on her wrist and trailing further up. Horrifyingly real up close. He had seen fewer wounds in the Netherworld.  
"I thought.. maybe, this would be _right?_ That it would_ help?_" she was shouting now, not at him, but at herself.  
"Because that's what everybody says you're _supposed_ to do, and I thought.." her voice cracked and she broke down crying again.

"You didn't know what to think" It was a statement, not a question. He forced his voice to be firm but gentle.

"I've_ been there_. I know it's not easy, everything is fucking a mess. But you have to believe me, this" he brushed up next to her, gently holding her elbow.  
"THIS is not going to make things better. It's not going to make things make sense. That's just a waiting game, and every day you get closer to figuring it out"

They were making eye contact now, tears streaming down her face.

"Take it from a dead guy Lydia, life doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be _lived_. So do me a favour and stick around a bit longer, eh?"

She took a shaky breath and nodded. Pulling her sleeve down again she wiped messy streams of tears and snot from her face. Crying wasn't pretty; it wasn't supposed to be. Then, before he could stop her, she pulled him into a hug, burying his face into his stripey shirt. He didn't know what to do for a moment, nobody had touched him in a non-violent way in a millennium. Slowly, he hugged her back.

Then he pushed her gently away.

  
"Don't get sentimental of me now Lydia, bad for my street cred." She laughed, and slowly raised her hand, brushing a tear from his cheek that he didn't even know was there.

  
"Gross," she said  
"Gross" he agreed

  
"We had better get down from here or a pigeon will take a shit on us"  
"That would improve your smell"  
"Shut up, you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Sorry this was longer than the first chapter I wanted to get a lot out.  
See something you like? Something you would have changed? Feel free to leave a comment!  
I hope you're feeling okay, don't be afraid to talk to people about your feels lads. Writing this got me out of a really shitty depression mood, hope it can do something similar for you.  
Also i've seen people doing this, my tumblr is @none-of-us-are! Hmu!


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